188 
ORIGIN OF LIFE IN AMERICA 
Dr. Wallace * makes the statement that the few species of 
birds which are resident in Bermuda and breed on the island 
are so constantly crossed by individual migrants of the same 
species from the mainland that none of the former have 
acquired any special peculiarity constituting even a distinct 
variety. It is perfectly true that the resident land birds 
are very few in number, but the opinions of most recent autho¬ 
rities differ very considerably from those enunciated by Dr. 
Wallace. 
Only ten species of land birds are resident on the island, 
and three of these have been introduced by man. The indi¬ 
genous fauna includes, therefore, seven hinds of birds, 
namely, the ground dove, the Florida gallinule, the crow, the 
white-eyed Vireo, the blue bird, the cat bird and the cardinal. 
Of these the Bermuda ground dove (Columbigallina bermu- 
diana) is described as a species very distinct from the 
American C. passerina. The Florida gallinule (Gallinula 
galeata) does not seem to differ from the continental form. 
The crow of Bermuda is probably separable from the American 
crow, but has not been sufficiently studied. The white-eyed 
Vireo (Vireo bermudianus) is described by Messrs. Bangs 
and Bradlee as very different in all its ways from its shy, 
retiring, continental relative, V. noveboracensis.f The blue 
bird is not usually recognised as distinct from the continental 
form, but Dr. Sharpe of the British Museum held that its 
characters were certainly striking enough to deserve specific 
recognition, and he described it as Sialis bermudianus. Now I 
may mention that the blue bird belongs to one of those genera 
which seem to have retained their generic characters for very 
long ages past, probably throughout several geological periods. 
We know nothing of its past history from palaeontological evi¬ 
dence, but its present geographical distribution, and that of 
its nearest relative, are so peculiar as to suggest their being of 
great antiquity. Sialis, with its three closely-allied American 
species, has its nearest relative (Grandala) in the Himalayan 
Mountains. I only mention this fact so as to show that the 
apparent specific identity of the Bermudan and the continental 
* Wallace, A. R., “ Island Life,” p. 269. 
f Bangs, O., and T. S. Bradlee, “ Birds of Bermuda,” pp. 249—257. 
